Southern Africa’s tourism industry is booming, which is why it should come as no surprise that new hotels and lodges are opening up (and re-opening) left and right.
Here are five new properties in Southern Africa that we think you should know about, from Chobe, to Cape Town, to Kruger Park.
Chobe Bush Lodge, Chobe National Park
The resplendent Chobe National park’s newest accommodation option is
Chobe Bush Lodge, which is managed by Under One Botswana Sky. It is situated in Kasane, directly on the border with Chobe National Park and within 150m from the Chobe River front.
Game drive in Chobe National Park (Shutterstock)
Opened in October 2014, it’s a secluded, luxury property which comprises 38 rooms and four family suites. Rooms feature a spacious bedroom, private lounge area, and a bathroom with a shower and bath. The lodge is designed in a contemporary bush style, and onsite amenities include a bush restaurant that offers both buffet and à la carte meals, a lounge, a bar, a pool and a pool deck. The lodge plans to soon add observation platforms over a river flowing through the property.
The lodge affords incredible views of the game-rich expanses of Chobe National Park and the Chobe River floodplains.
Park Inn by Radisson Cape Town Newlands
Carlson Rezidor recently opened the
Park Inn Cape Town Newlands, a 122-room property located at the foot of Table Mountain in the Cape Town suburbs.
Courtesy of Park Inn Newlands
The hotel offers high-speed Wi-Fi, a self-service kiosk for late-night snacks, a fully equipped gym and a ‘live-inn’ room comprising a modern bar, all-day restaurant, al fresco terrace and outdoor swimming pool.
The business-oriented Park Inn also features high-tech conference rooms which can host up to 163 delegates and are equipped with state-of-the-art conferencing equipment. The facility also features a chalkboard wall for group brainstorming sessions. The hotel incorporates the “Smart Meeting and Events” hospitality concept, which is designed to deliver the right type of food, drinks, event spaces and technology to support guests’ life and work styles.
Perhaps most notably, the Park Inn places a huge emphasis on accessibility. It not only offers five wheelchair-friendly rooms and a series of ramps, but some 30% of the hotel staff are deaf and serve in both back and front-of-house roles. The hotel is partnered with the Deaf Federation of South Africa (DEAFSA).
Though it is located 10km from the city centre, ample public transportation allows visitors to access both Newlands attractions such as the cricket and rugby stadiums, as well as central Cape Town.
Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff, Johannesburg
Courtesy of Four Seasons
Improvements to the swank hillside property include five new restaurants, a spa with nine treatment rooms, a lap pool and new African-inspired decor in the 117 rooms and suites.
Billed as an “urban resort,” the regal Westcliff is located between the upscale enclaves of Sandton and the emerging neighbourhoods of Johannesburg’s CBD. It overlooks the Johannesburg Zoo and offers stunning views of the leafy neighborhoods of The Parks, making it a popular wedding venue.
Lodge 23, near Kruger National Park
Lodge 23, a five-star luxury lodge, has just opened in Elephant Point, a 290-hectare private reserve on the banks of the Sabie River near South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
Courtesy of Lodge 23
It’s got just four self-catering rooms that face the river, all styled with Indian and Moroccan themes. Each room has an en-suite bathroom with outside shower or bath, tea- and coffee-making facilities, air-conditioner and fan.
As if that weren’t enough, there is also a fully equipped kitchen, laundry facilities, a covered viewing deck upstairs, a bar with a flat-screen TV, DStv and DVD player, a lounge/dining area with fireplace, a pizza oven, a Weber kettle braai, and a large outside dining deck.
Activities near the lodge include self-drive game viewing in the Kruger Park, guided rhino walks, open-air vehicle drives and golf at the Gary Player golf course, which is 10km away. Guests can also make use of the lodge’s pool and deck, and the enclosed boma fire pit with seating for eight people.
Auberge Daniella, Franschhoek
Auberge Daniella, a restored Victorian homestead, is now open as a country-style bed-and-breakfast in the scenic Franschhoek Valley in the Western Cape.
Courtesy of Auberge Daniella
The property comprises just three luxury suites (La Cotte, Huguenot Suite and Lavender Cottage) which overlook a garden and swimming pool area. Bedrooms offer extra-length, queen or king-size beds with custom-designed mattresses, and the en-suite bathrooms feature heated towel rails, luxury soaps and toiletries. Each suite also has a large dining room, lounge area and kitchenette.
Other amenities include air-con, heat, free Wi-Fi, DStv with two plasma TVs in each suite, personal safes, CCTV security cameras, individual alarms for each suite, an al fresco dining area, laundry and cleaning service on request, and off-street parking.
Set against a backdrop of the Middagkrans Mountains, the B&B is located along the main road to Franschhoek and is within walking distance of the town centre.
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